The presence of death receptors in the blood can be used to measure the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes.
The claim comes in a new paper published by a team from Lund University in Sweden.
The researchers found that people with known risk factors, such as high blood sugar and high blood fats, also have heightened death receptor levels.
Death receptors are activated, for example, in the case of infections when white blood cells that have combated a virus are to be removed.
It was previously known that death receptors in the blood can be measured, but not whether an elevated level was linked to increased cell death in type 2 diabetes and arteriosclerosis.
The results show that increased cell death can be linked to increased levels in the blood of three different members of the same “death receptor family” (TNFR-1, TRAILR-2 and Fas).
Increased cell death is seen in type 2 diabetes as well as arteriosclerosis.
High blood sugar and blood fats subject the body’s blood vessels and insulin-producing beta cells to stress.
Long-term stress damages the cells and can cause the death receptors on the surface of the cell to trigger a cell suicide program within the cell.
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